Best Green Design ENOC Green Station

Dubai, UAE

Any responsible c-store operator will seize the opportunity to save some money, but Emirates National Oil Co. (ENOC) was focused on saving more than cash when it redesigned its Green Station. The company now saves energy, water and fuel through its focus on green initiatives — some of which are the first to appear in the Middle East — and if it's up to ENOC, these won't be the last.

The designers of this year's CSNews Best Green Design winner knew that creating a truly green site involved more than adopting a few green measures and calling it a day. A key objective was integrating all the green initiatives into the station design and doing so in a way that would lead to a quick and low-cost route to retrofit older ENOC stations in the future. The development of the Green Station was only step one; designers were already looking ahead to the future where the station's design would provide an umbrella for all other new sub-brands.

The station's green initiatives are spread across nearly all of the site's functions. The Green Station boasts a vapor recovery system, energy-saving solar-powered pole and LED lights, sensor-type water taps and two-stage flush systems. Sustainable water features, such as using recycled water in the car wash and offering a waterless wash, have successfully cut water consumptions by a quarter. Even waste has its uses, as a garbage compactor and waste segregation equipment cut down on trash, while used oils are collected and disposed of safely.

Even most of the furniture is made from recycled materials. And the Green Station doesn't overlook the little touches; for instance, all plastic bags are biodegradable.

Additionally, ENOC chooses to use environmentally friendly engine oils PROTEC Green for gasoline engines and VULCAN Green for diesel engines, and Very Low Sulfur Diesel (VLSD) is available at the service station.

However, a green site means nothing without consumers who will use it, and happily Green Station's customers have embraced the changes. “As it is located in an up-market area populated mainly by expatriates, the community response has been very positive,” ENOC noted in its contest entry. “The station now ranks among the top sites in terms of sales with 65,900 liters of fuel and [more than] U.S. $8,500 of non-fuel products and services per day.”

— Angela Hanson